'This Is Home': Whitesboro principal back at school where she grew up

Kristy Towns grew up just a mile down the road from Whitesboro Elementary. She goes to church across the street and knows just about everybody in the close-knit community in northern Etowah County.

BY LISA ROGERS SAVAGETimes Staff Writer

Kristy Towns grew up just a mile down the road from Whitesboro Elementary. She goes to church across the street and knows just about everybody in the close-knit community in northern Etowah County.She loves the community and the school and is thrilled to begin her job as principal at Whitesboro Elementary.“This is home,” she said. “This is a dream come true.”It’s a job she believes is meant for her. Not only is her background in the educational field, but her first career was in accounting and finance — an important part of budgets and other issues that are the responsibility of the principal.“It all meshed together with my love for education and children. It’s amazing how the Lord brings you back and takes all your best qualities and allows you to use them,” she said.Her parents, Arthur and Harriet Mims, still live in the home where she was born and raised.She went to Whitesboro Elementary and graduated from Sardis High School in 1987.She said her heart was in the education field, and she had always wanted to be a teacher. But at the time, teaching jobs were difficult to find and she decided to get a degree in finance and accounting. “I thought I’d have a better opportunity to go to work immediately,” she said.She graduated from Jacksonville State University and worked in the accounting field for 10 years.But Towns said she is a people person, and a job in accounting had few opportunity to interact with others and build relationships.“In accounting, you are tied to your desk and the computer,” she said. “There’s not a lot of interaction with others and definitely not with children.”She decided to go back to college and obtained a master’s degree in special education. She went to work as a teacher at West End High School and later transferred to Carlisle Elementary, where she has been the Alabama Reading Initiative instructor for the last nine years.She became a national board certified teacher in 2009 and in 2013 received her educational leadership degree from the University of Alabama.Her principal at Carlisle Elementary, Donna Johnson, encouraged her to pursue an administrative degree, knowing she had the qualities it takes to be a school leader.When Don Graves decided to retire as longtime principal at Whitesboro, Towns decided to apply.Two of her children had attended Whitesboro, and she knew him and knew she would have big shoes to fill. Now that she has the job, she plans to try.“I am honored to carry on the good things he started,” she said.She goes to Whitesboro Baptist Church.“The church and the school are the glue of a community,” she said. “It’s like one big family.”She said the community has provided tremendous support as she prepares to begin the school year.She set July 19 as a work day and asked members of the community to help out. Volunteers did landscaping, painting and many other projects that helped prepare the school building for classes.“They do it because of the love of the kids,” she said. “It’s a testament of what this community is about, and that goes a long way. The kids are the reason we’re here.”She said she looks forward to working with the staff.“We have excellent teachers with a heart for the kids,” she said.She said the school will have parent night for kindergarten and first grade from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday in the lunchroom. Parents who do not already know Towns will have an opportunity to meet her and the teachers. The meeting does not include students and will give teachers an opportunity to share expectations for the school year with the parents.Parents and students from second through sixth grades will have a meet-and-greet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Whitesboro Baptist Church sanctuary. After a brief meeting, families will then go across the street to the school to meet teachers and deliver school supplies. Two orientation sessions will take place at the school. The first is at 5:50 p.m. and the second is at 6:10 p.m. The meet-and-greet will conclude promptly at 6:30 p.m.“We want the parents to come and meet the teachers,” she said. “We’re really excited and look forward to the kids getting here on the 7th.”Classes begin Thursday for all school systems in Etowah County.

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